REPORT OF MR. JAMES MURRAY 371 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



available, plenty of men and teams and a lot of corn to handle, the blower is much to 

 be preferred. Where, however, there is a small force and only a sweep or tread horse 

 power, or a small engine, the chain elevator box will be found most satisfactory. 



As the corn is cut into the silo the leaves and stalks should be well mixed in the 

 silo to insure even settling. If the corn is very dry a few pails of water may be poured 

 around the edge as it is being filled. This may be repeated two or three times to 

 advantage. After filling is completed, no further treatment is required except to 

 tramp the ensilage once a day for several days around the edge of the silo. A layer 

 of partially decayed matter soon forms over the surface which effectually excludes the 

 air 



If the ensilage is required for feeding as soon as the silo is filled, there will be no 

 loss from decayed matter, but if, as is more usually the case, it is not required for sev- 

 eral months, from four to six inches will require to be removed as waste. The ensilage 

 [hiay be fed by itself or it may before being fed be mixed to advantage with cut straw 

 or hay. The method followed here in feeding ensilage is to build up in alternate layers 

 cut straw, ensilage and roots sufficient to feed the entire stock for two or sometimes 

 three days. The straw absorbs some of the juices and flavour from the ensilage and 

 roots and, when fed, the whole makes a highly palatable mixture that is eaten with very 

 little waste. The allowance of meal is scattered on this mixture after it is in the 

 manger. This method of preparing the feed enables considerable coarse and compara- 

 tively rough feed to be utilized to good advantage, and is particularly adapted to utiliz- 

 in any frozen ensilage. Freezing does not injure the quality of the ensilage, and 

 when it is incorporated with the other feeds and allowed to undergo slight fermenta- 

 tion no injurious results can possibly follow. 



Two silos each nine feet square and twenty-four feet high were in use on this Farm 

 for fifteen years, and gave good satisfaction. The chief objection to them was the 

 loss entailed through improper settling in the corners and consequent moulding and 

 decay. These silos were located inside the barn and hence there was little freezing. 



In the slimmer of 1908 a new silo was built to take the place of the old ones as 

 the lumber had decayed to such an extent as to impair their usefulness. 



The new silo was built outside the north side of the barn, located so that the 

 •ensilage was in the middle of the cattle stable. The bottom is on a level with the 

 stable floor and the cement work extends two feet above the surface of the ground. 

 On the cement foundation a superstructure of staves was erected, the lumber used 

 being 6-inch by 2-inch by 20 feet. This made the silo 33 feet high to the roof. 



The silo has now been in use three seasons. The only objection to it is the amount 

 of freezing which takes place in very severe weather. As already mentioned freezing 

 does not actually impair the feeding quality. When much freezing occurs there 

 is considerable difficulty in detaching the ensilage from the walls and in incorporating 

 a large quantity of it with the other feed. There is a notable difference in the amount 

 of freezing on the staves and that on the cement work which extends above the ground 

 surface. As the cement is a better conductor than the wood the freezing has always 

 been much worse on the cement. Except in continued very severe weather there has 

 being little freezing on the staves when care has been taken to keep the edges lower 

 than the body of the ensilage. 



Cement undoubtedly has the advantage in durability but a well built stave silo 

 should last fifteen years and the initial expense of building is less. The advantaga 

 that it has over cement as regards frost is well worth considering. 



A silo built of hollow cement blocks would have advantages over the solid cement 

 wall as the air space would considerably reduce the liability of freezing. Hollow tile 

 as a construction material for silos is also worthy of consideration in this climate for 

 the same reason. 



Those contemplating the construction of a stave silo should secure a copy of 

 Bulletin 35 of the Experimental Farms on ' Stave Silos.' This may be had froe on. 

 application. 



